Response to Piromen was used as a model for an acute infection to study glucoregulatory hormone dynamics in normal and juvenile diabetic subjects. Responses to Piromen were assessed over a 3-hour period after administration of this agent (peak fever) and during an iv Glucose Tolerance Test. Following Piromen both normal and diabetic subjects displayed insulin resistance accompanied with elevations of plasma glucagon, cortisol and ACTH. Insulin infusion in the diabetic group prevented further k rate deterioration during fever despite significant increases in counter-regulatory hormones. In 90-day convalescent Syrian hamsters challenged with TC-83 vaccine strain, glucose tolerance with either 2 or 5 g/kg i.p. glucose returns to normal. In contrast, the severely diminished insulin responses observed in 24-day convalescent hamsters persisted in the 90-day convalescent hamsters with both 2 and 5 g/kg glucose. The mechanism of the impaired insulin release up to and including 3 months following TC-83 vaccination is not known but possibilities include virus-associated interference with the microtubular-microfilamentous system or impairment of beta granule release into the extracellular space by emiocytosis. BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES: Curnow, R.T., Rayfield, E.J., George, D.T., Zenser, T.V., and DeRubertis, F.R. The Effect of Acute Diplococcus Pneumonial Sepsis on Portal Vein Glucose, Insulin, and Glucagon and Liver Cyclic 3'5'-AMP, Glycogen Synthase and Phosphorylase Systems in the Rat. Am. J. Physiol., 1976, in press. Rayfield, E.J., Faulkner, R.T. and Czajkowski, W. Portal and Peripheral Vein Insulin Responses to Glucose in the Rhesus Monkey. J. Lab. Clin. Med., 1976, in press.